Atlanta Marathon Suspended for 2014

Organizers focus on developing Atlanta 10 Miler

The Atlanta Track Club has decided to suspend the 2014 Atlanta Marathon, scheduled for October 26, and instead focus on developing the Atlanta 10 Miler and 5K at the city’s Atlantic Station, scheduled for the same day.

According to an Atlanta Track Club press release, the decision was made after the organization’s staff and board of directors reviewed “the disproportionate amount of the Club’s resources dedicated to the event compared to the number of event participants. The Atlanta Marathon annually serves just under 1,000 finishers each year.”

Executive director Rich Kenah said, “Atlanta Track Club’s mission is to create an active and healthy Atlanta through running and walking. In its current form, the Atlanta Marathon required a significant allocation of our resources and we felt the 10 Miler in October would serve our membership and the at-large running community in a way that is more in line with our mission and commitment to make Atlanta a healthier city.”

The Atlanta 10 Miler and 5K were introduced in 2013, and the 10 Miler drew a larger field than the marathon. Kenah said that his organization will continue to offer programs for runners interested in marathoning and that “when we see an opportunity to offer the Atlanta Marathon in a way that it can be celebrated by the entire running community, we will consider bringing it back.”

Participants who had registered for the 2014 Atlanta Marathon will be contacted directly with options to choose from as alternatives to the marathon. Both the opportunity to complete a marathon this fall and a full refund for the Atlanta Marathon will be among the options offered.

There is another marathon in the city of Atlanta, the Publix Georgia Marathon, which starts and ends in Centennial Olympic Park on March 22 in 2015.